Moviment Graffitti has warned the Planning Authority that it will be carrying out “bigger and more forceful” direct action if the long-promised fuel station policy revision is not published immediately.
“We have tried everything – e-mails, articles, protests, press conferences - to make the PA revise a policy which the authorities themselves acknowledge as harmful, to no avail,” Moviment Graffitti said in a statement. “This leaves us with no other option but to resort to further direct actions.”
The group said it was “beyond ridiculous” that a revision of the “extremely damaging” policy had still not been issued nearly 15 months after the review was announced.
The 2015 policy allows fuel stations to ‘relocate’ from urban cores to up to 3,000 square metres of land outside development zones.
Numerous such developments have been approved since despite consistent warnings from the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) over the take-up of agricultural land.
ERA’s proposals for the revision were passed on in April last year, and included a complete ban on all new and relocated fuel stations on ODZ sites, but there has been no word since on when the final document will be issued.
Planning minister Ian Borg hinted last month that the proposed ban may apply only to new facilities, leaving existing fuel stations free to relocate to ODZ sites.
Moviment Graffitti on Monday accused the PA of taking the public for a ride by dragging its feet and allowing developers to continue submitting applications for ODZ fuel stations, which would then be assessed under the current policy.
“Allowing so many massive fuel stations on natural and agricultural land in a small, over-built, country like Malta is simply insane, the group said. “The PA is bulldozing over the common good and the people’s wellbeing in order to accommodate a few wealthy individuals.”
Graffitti has on two occasions, last April and last September, halted PA hearings on fuel station proposals in Luqa and Bulebel, arguing that no decisions should be made while the policy review is pending.
The Bulebel application was ultimately rejected by the board, while the Luqa proposal was approved, committing 3,000 square metres of agricultural land on Qormi Road to the development.